Intense and heavy fighting is taking place in the Soledar area.

The representative of the US Ministry of Defense, General Patrick Ryder, said that the Pentagon has no confirmation of the information about the alleged capture by the Russians of the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region.

“As for Soledar, we continue to observe intense and heavy fighting around Soledar and Bakhmut, which is, of course, relatively close. We cannot confirm any information about the capture of Soledar by Russian troops,” he stressed during the briefing.

According to Ryder, the Pentagon saw information from the media about the alleged capture of the city by mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC.

“But we know that the Ukrainians continue to conduct operations on the outskirts of Soledar, and continue to fight back. In the meantime, we are focused on continuing cooperation with Ukraine and the international community to provide Ukraine with the necessary security assistance,” the Pentagon representative summarized.

Battles for Soledar

The adviser to the head of the President’s Office, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Russia could lose up to 20,000 occupiers near Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region. He emphasized that the Russian invaders do not care about losses and have concentrated almost the entire combat-ready group in the Soledar area.

Russian occupiers are sent en masse to storm Ukrainian positions in Soledar. The outskirts of the city are teeming with invaders. The commander of a separate tactical air reconnaissance group SARG with the call sign “Magyar” showed the assault of the invaders from the air.